Pages

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Sugar-free AMAZING chocolate cake!

Let. them. eat. cake.

Or rather, let me ;)

Seriously - at 27.5 weeks pregnant, I think I've done pretty well.

My family has experienced sickness. We have experienced another brutal Maine winter. I have had to see my precious little boy hurting again and again from accidental ingestions or food fails (darn you, FPIES/mast cell!).

And every single time, I did not cave to sugar or binging.

If you know anything about my story, you know I'm far from perfect. But I've also come a long ways in 7 months.

The past week or so, I've been craving chocolate, and I've been craving cookie dough ice cream. Today, I decided to cave to the chocolate. Lucky for me, I have a husband who supports my anti-sugar stance (sugar lowers your immune system - seriously, read up on the stuff, it's scary. We can't afford for my little FPIES boy to get sick, so we are doing all we can to try to keep us healthy). So off to the grocery store he went, and I had all the ingredients to make this chocolate goodness for me my valued readers ;)

Pinterest is my friend. The key with pinterest is to only check it when you're looking for something specific. Otherwise, you'll be sucked in for hours with nothing to show for it and that guilty feeling that you've wasted the day away while the dishes piled up and the laundry exploded.

ANYWAYS - the recipe!! The cake was adapted from the culinary couture blog and the AMAZING frosting was adapted from mouth watering foods. The cake was good - but that frosting... oh man! I've tried making frosting for many, many months, and all have ended up in the trash - the key to the texture is the avocado!

One 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed (or 1.5 cups precooked chickpeas, which is what I used)

3 - 4 large eggs, depending on the consistency you want

2/3 cup maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch round baking pan with non-stick cooking spray, then line with wax paper, spray again, and set aside.

Melt chocolate chips or baker's chocolate bar over a double boiler or in the microwave. If using a double boiler, stir often!

Add chickpeas and eggs to the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth and well-combined. Add maple syrup and baking powder and process until incorporated. Pour in melted chocolate and process until well-blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl often.

Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

While cake is cooking, make the frosting:

The frosting:

1 small avocado, mashed

1/4 cup dark cocoa powder

1/4 cup honey (use agave for a vegan version)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup So Delicious coconut yogurt, plain

1/4 cup chocolate chips or 1/2 unsweetened baker's bar, melted

Add avocado to food processor and process until completely smooth with no clumps. Add all remaining ingredients. Process until a smooth and creamy texture is reached. Frosting should be silky smooth - I have NEVER been able to attain a texture like this in any other recipe! Store frosting in the fridge until the cake is cooled.

When the cake is completely cooled, remove frosting from the fridge and allow to sit at room temperature for awhile. Spread frosting liberally on the cake until well covered.

Try to get a picture to share with your health-conscious friends before taking a bite ;)

EAT and ENJOY - this is guilt-free, as long as you don't eat half the cake ;) Be sure to subscribe to this blog for more healthy dessert options!! :)